Echoes: A Novel - Distant Voices : Distant Lives

It is 1961 and Malta is in the middle of an unprecedented social upheaval. The Labour Party is at loggerheads with the Nationalist Party and the Catholic Church. Maltese society is tearing itself apart. The private world of individuals is wracked by vengeful acts. Fear, lack of trust and hate divide families and neighbourhoods.

Migration is at its height. Two families are waiting for the guarantee papers to arrive so they would migrate to Australia. Will Australia fulfil Ninette Muscat’s dream of living happily with the husband she loves? Will Australia give seventeen-year-old Rosie Farrugia a better life than the one she has on the island? Will she find the security and freedom she craves, and will she be able to reach her full potential?

Mental illness, passion and tragedy combine to make ECHOES an unforgettable and emotional story. This is a tender, thoughtful novel, rich in character and detail. It transports us to the drama of migration, and takes us straight inside the struggle individuals face during the first years of settlement in a new country.